Morning Motivator – Are you a Teacher or a Preacher?

I find RELIGION and EDUCATION two of the more interesting topics of discussion amongst friends.  Opinions are often POLARIZED, with comments about the "real commitment" of churchgoers and the "value of a good teacher."

While these may be valid DISCUSSIONS, I tend to think that RELIGION and EDUCATION are the same at the core.  I also believe that the SUCCESS of a church is based on the same fundamentals as a CLASSROOM.  It comes down to whether you have a TEACHER or a PREACHER…

What I mean by that is that a TEACHER is someone that inspires learning and effectively ASSISTS people in breaking down misconceptions, difficulties in understanding and allows her "students" to arrive at THEIR conclusions based on their work.  A PREACHER tells you what to believe and dictates to you what you should know, how you should know and not to challenge that knowledge.  They talk AT you…

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
A great minister, church leader or "preacher" as some may refer to the individual, when good, is a TEACHER at heart.  A bad teacher, administrator or coach, when bad, is a DICTATOR and a PREACHER of THEIR values with the inability to accept others thoughts.

The fact of the matter is this:  You are not going to change someone's mind or belief system by TELLING them they must change.  You cannot TEACH without discussion, disagreement and resolution. 

I love a good church leader like a love a good teacher… and when you are in their PRESENCE – you know it!  So as you go out into your business day, think about how you operate… are you a TEACHER or a PREACHER?

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Tim Ferriss is a Genius

"In my top 5 people to meet, you better believe Tim Ferriss ranks damn near #1."
- Zach Barker, Entrepreneurial addict

Here is an excerpt from one of Tim's most recent posts.  I thought for those that are having a "BLAH' week, this might be a good inspiration!  Enjoy Tim's comments below…

Once upon a time, two entrepreneurs had an idea: what if we used traditional bookbinding to make iPad cases?

It was a fun idea.

Then it suddenly became very, very profitable. The two entrepreneurs, Patrick Buckley and Craig Dalton, named the idea DODOCase and soon had sold more than 10,000 iPad cases at $60 a pop.
Soon thereafter, they were featured in The New York Times and had a multi-million dollar business on their hands, to the tune to $4-5 million a year.

That could be you.

See, DODOcase was far from alone. They were part of a simple experiment, a business-building competition I launched jointly with an incredible start-up called Shopify.

The results were amazing:
Revenue PER HOUR for the duration of the contest: $696.38
Total number of orders placed: 66,503
Most important — Total businesses created: nearly 1,400

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
1,400 &^%$ing businesses, created by people just like you.

People who'd become comfortable in a routine. People who'd dreamt of starting their own company… someday. People who just needed a quick slap to get off the tranquilizers of their 9-to-5. But did I say "people just like you"? Scratch that — 1,400 businesses, many of them created by people far less capable than you.

Zach:  "so what the hell are you waiting on?" and "Thanks Tim Ferriss… I hope to meet you one day soon!"

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Plan like a Coach

"Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work."
- Peter Drucker

If you have not yet figured it out, I am a HUGE sports fan.  I love almost any sport as long as it is fun and competitive in nature.  Even Nintendo Wii can be great sport with the right competitors.

The interesting thing about sport is that it is, on occasion, a GREAT tester of character and resilience.  Most commonly, this is UNCOVERED when a team or player is being "blown out" of a game (i.e.  You are losing badly).  It is the MINDSET of a great coach that helps the team or player get back in the game.

Coaches are BRILLIANT in the manner of setting short-term goals.  They do not expect you to run the extra sprint to get back on defense in the fourth quarter, rather, they KNOW you want to and force you do get under 10 seconds in your sprint exercises at practice.  A coach does not want you the team to overcome a 20-point deficit by the end of the game; they want to cut it to 10 points in the next 6 minutes.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
Preparation is the precursor to EXECUTION.  Preparation is not a one-time shot though.  You cannot go to the gym today for 10 hours and get the same results as going to the gym ten days in a row for an hour.

Coaches are great at breaking down goals into MANAGEABLE, bite-size, chunks.  Are the goals CHALLENGING?  Yes.  Do they HURT to get to and require great EFFORT?  Of course.  Are they UNATTAINABLE?  NO WAY!

As you break down your workday today, think as a coach would.  Bust your day up into small, manageable tasks that you give 110% FOCUS towards and do not cease working on until completed (because you know a coach will not let you quit to do something different). 

If you plan like a COACH, execute like an ATHLETE, you will WIN like a CHAMPION!

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning Motivator – Time to Team Up

There is a DISTINCT disadvantage to being a younger professional – you have not yet built your teams.  You do not have the TRUSTED resource providers surrounding you that you need in order to confidently execute with 100% certainty that you can do ANYTHING if need be.

May be it is time to TEAM UP.  I am not making a political call for business socialism, rather, for co-operation between your professionals, especially entrepreneurs.  I am calling for a collective STRATEGIC ALLIANCE to share resources, technologies and share in the costs of operations. 

There are many "group resource" solutions throughout the business community, such as HR or IT management.  These businesses help companies share in operational services; however, I am speaking to the sharing of office space, connectivity, equipment, as well as services.

What if, as a young business owner, you could have office space, technology, tools and support for a minimal fee or no fee at all (for a limited time)?  Do you think we would see more INSPIRED entrepreneurs if the risks were not so high?

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
I am a FIRM believer that the young inspired minds of our future business leaders can (and will) correct our economy!  I believe they will solve many of the world's woes from energy depletion to advanced water systems to aid in irrigation.

I am also a firm believer that UNLESS they are allowed the space and opportunity to FAIL, we will never see the greatness of the most educated generation ever.  They, like our generation, will FALL into the middle managers syndrome, seeking SECURITY over AMBITION.  They will settle for a "good job" with a "nice home" as opposed to "changing the world" as they DREAMED of in college.

Maybe it is time that we, the leaders of our communities, found a way to allow for inspired minds an OPPORTUNITY to be great.  Should they have a "give" for this opportunity (like a percentage of ownership given to the community provider)?  Sure.  Does that mean they will be TURNED OFF?  Hell no!!

Maybe it is time to think what you might have done… had you had the opportunity to TEAM UP too!  On the other hand, maybe it is time to TEAM UP and get moving…

Cheers,
Zach

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.

Morning (almost) Motivator – Its Coming… Social Selling

"It is selling socially.  You can see it more and more on people's (FaceBook) fan pages."
- Brian Bille, President of Kinetic Marketing

What is the FUTURE of business?  Years ago, they said the internet would be the end of "brick and mortar."  (Oops!)  It seems that we missed the mark there.

I am not going to SUGGEST that the internet will cease to be a dominate forces in revenue generation.  I will not suggest that DIRECT "face to face" selling will no longer be the most POWERFUL of all techniques.  What I am going to suggest is that the new POWERHOUSE of sales will be (if not already), SOCIAL SELLING.

The formalized process of INDIVIDUALS affecting sales more directly than any sales force can.  The LEVERAGING of individuals social networks to directly communicate and sell products to consumers based off the endorsement of the individual.  From the business side, this would be similar to paying a sales commission to a rep; however, your rep is now a lay consumer with high connectivity.

2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
For many years, sales managers have touted that sales is a "contact sport."  The one with more contacts wins…

The idea of SOCIAL SELLING plays directly into this mindset as we recognize people are more educated on products and services, making them more skeptical.  Hence, the ENDORSEMENT of a highly connected (thus highly valued) individual can have TREMENDOUS impact into marketability.

Just think about it.  Who is more powerful – Lance Armstrong or your best high school buddy?  When it comes to taking the advice of someone, the impact of someone you know WELL and DIRECTLY trumps and "star power" available.  It will be the trusted word of those highly connected, well-respected individuals that will begin diminishing the power of the celebrity and enhancing the power of the "social endorsement."

Now, if I could just figure out how to get 100 people with 5,000 friends to start chatting about the Morning Motivator… hmmmm  <twiddles fingers>

Cheers!
Zach (the now vented version)

*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com

The Morning Motivator is a copyrighted publication. The use of this article is open for print or publication with proper citations.